Tayyaba
Zoom, a popular video conferencing company, has recently cleared up uncertainty and apprehension surrounding its policy related to training AI, after an uproar by users. The company has specified that it will not utilize its call data for the purpose of training their AI which was not specified before. Here’s what we know:
At what policy did Zoom users cause an uproar?
Zoom recently clarified its terms of service following a recent update. This included the revelation that user data could potentially be utilized for AI training and research, in accordance with the phrase “service generated data” and “customer content.” These terms explicitly stated that this data could be applied “for the purpose of product and service development,” including “machine learning or artificial intelligence (including for the purposes of training or tuning of algorithms and models).” This invoked a flood of opposition from loyal zoom users including educational providers.
What did Zoom say to clarify it’s policy?
Following user backlash, the company recently addressed the widespread debate and criticism which arose from an update to their terms of service. Zoom’s Chief Product Officer Smita Hashim clarified in a blog that Zoom does not utilize customer audio, video, or chat data for training “without customer consent.” Hashim also indicated that “service generated data” refers to diagnostic data, namely telemetry, not the actual contents of customer calls. The video conference app has now updated both the terms of service and Hashim’s blog, which now contain the same bolded statement.
“Zoom does not use any of your audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments or other communications-like Customer Content (such as poll results, whiteboard and reactions) to train Zoom or third-party artificial intelligence models.”
Zoom